Assess The Importance Of The Night Of The Long Knives In Hitler’s Consolidation Of Power

Assess The Importance Of The Night Of The Long Knives In Hitler’s Consolidation Of Power

INTRODUCTION-SET SCENE, SET ARGUMENT.

The night of the Long Knives is important in Hitler’s consolidation of power because it helped to eliminate rivalry from the SA as a powerful force as they wanted to start a “secondary revolution” in Germany and had 3 million members to do so, and also it helped gain the support of the army who were the main organisation that threatened Hitler’s power. Having the army onside enabled Hitler to have military power that would allow his foreign policies to be successful. It also meant he would have a powerful, disciplined army over an ill disciplined SA force. To start eliminating political rivals in the SA such as Ernst Röhm meant that the Nazi party could enforce their power with less resistance; this was shown by the fact that the SA became almost unarmed and was used mainly for show. The night of the Long knives was also very important as it brought the SS into power who were even more loyal to Hitler than the SA and the generals of the army failed to recognise the SS as the parties elite institution to terror, meaning Hitler was still able to have his own personal party and also the Army which made it easier to force his laws onto people. The night of Long Knives was the most important factor to Hitler’s consolidation of power because it strengthened the position of Hitler and the Nazi party and also eliminated the threat from both the SA and the army.

Gleichshaltung was important in Hitler’s consolidation of power because it allowed Hitler to gain control of many important organisations, which reduced the chance of revolution, therefore ensuring the country remained stable.   Gleichshaltung, or bring into line with the Nazis was instrumental in the consolidation of Hitler’s power.   This is due to the fact that it eliminated much of the opposition, for example the Trade Unions who were powerful at the time.   This was very important because it reduced the chance of people rebelling against Nazi ideas.   By...